One of The First Good Giant Monster Movies of 21st Century Film

Rating: 7/10 (22 July 2014)

I think some people took Pacific Rim too seriously. Yeah, there was a lot of hype surrounding it, but you can't really expect an epic, revolutionary storyline from a high budget Power Rangers movie. And as such, it does a good job, where Godzilla 1998 and the Transformers franchise failed. The Host and Cloverfield came closer, but weren't grandiose enough. King Kong did a great job, but that was almost a decade ago. Pacific Rim puts its enormous budget to good use, with some great special effects and vicious fights.
The characters are pretty flat, though. Most can be described in one word, and some barely have lines. Charlie Day is liked by some, by I found him to be annoying, leeching time from the screen with his subplot. The two leads were likable, and Idris Elba is as boss as ever. But there should be more, considering the length of time you spend with them.
Its made up by the action, IMHO. Titanic robots vs gigantic monsters has never been done better. The CGI is very good, the robots have cool designs, and each individual monster has a unique body type. Both sides are evenly matched, and you do get a sense of increasing danger as the Kaiju become larger, more intelligent, and specialized. There's hardly an easy battle, as Jaegers get smashed, Kaiju sliced and incinerated. The sheer scale is rarely matched in blockbusters, and the camera is calm enough to let it sink in.
Oh yeah - the main theme is one of the most heroic themes of all time, despite the Inception horn.
Its not exactly intelligent, but as a fan of mecha and monsters, Pacific Rim does so well what so few are doing that I couldn't help but enjoy myself. If you like the idea and hold your expectations right, its a perfectly good popcorn film. Its shallow, but its not like they could do much more with the concept. Let's just hope the series and sequel take things up a few notches!